What is going in Timor?
After 24 years of Indonesian military occupation in 1999 over 78% of the population voted for independence in a UN-sponsored referendum. The Indonesian military, with Timorese proxies, perpetrated one of the most devastating scorched earth campaigns in modern history in the territory: stealing, burning, raping and murdering. In 2002, after a transitional administration under the UN, East Timor gained independence. The government is a parliamentary democracy based on the Portuguese system, with the Prime Minister and his cabinet in control and the President largely as a figurehead. The ruling party, Fretilin, was the party that unilaterally declared independence in late 1975 and organized the military resistance to the subsequent Indonesisan occupation. In April and May 2006, brewing conflicts within in the Armed Forces and between the Armed Forces and the Police exploded. Violence by members of these security forces (and ex-members) created massive instability and led to the displaceme
